Improvement in scythe-fastenings



P. F RUST. Scythe Fastening.

Patented March 29 IINITED 'STATES PATENT Erica.

IMPROVEMENT iN sCvTi-i,ia-i-'AsTizNmes,`

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 42.081, dated March 29,1864.

To all whom lit may concern.-

Be it known that-LVPINCKNEY Feos'r, of Springfield, county of Windsor,and State of Vermont, have invented a new and Improved Scythe-Fastening;and I do hereby declare that the following' is a full, clear, and exactdescription thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,making a part of this specification, in which- Figure Lisa viewrepresenting a Scythe se; cured to its snath according to my invention.Fig. 2 shows a side view ofthe fastening. Fig. 3 isa section of Figs. 1and 2, taken at the point indicated by red line w a'. Fig. (l is aperspective view ofthe looped clamp. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of theperforated claw-plate inverted. Fig. (5 is a perspective view of theleather wedge used for adjusting the point of the scythe, either up ordown.

Similar letters of' reference indicate corresponding parts in theseveral figures.

The object of my invention is to enable the mower t-o readily adjust andto firmly fasten his scythe in any required position upon the snathwithout the necessity of bending or twisting the web or arm of theScythe for this purpose, as will be hereinafter described.

To enableothers skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willproceed to describe its construction and operation.

In theaccoinpanying drawings, A represents the lower-most end of thesnathor handle of the implement. B is the Scythe-blade, of which c isits handle, and a the claw formed on the small end thereof, as shown inFigs. I and 2. The lower end of the snath A is cut ont so as to leave aiiat surface, b, adapted to receiye the corresponding surface oftheScythe-handle c, and the extreme end of A receives on it aferrule, C,which has two flat surfaces, cc', through which perforations are madefor receiving the screw-tapped ends of a loop, D, and also the screws dd, which operate this loop and draw it up, so'as to clamp and confinethe lower part of the handle c against the flat surface of the ferrule.or against a leather wedge, which will be hereinafter described. Theloop D is constructed with nuts e e on its bent ends,which receive theends of the screws d d, and which a enter perforatons made through theflat surrespective recesses and introducing the arm a of thescythe-blade under the loop'D, the latter can be drawn up tightly'against said arm by means of the two screws d d, and the arm may be thusfirmly clamped to the snath. The claw or right-angular projection ci',whichis formed on the small end of the Scythe-handle a, is received by aperforated plate, E, which is firmly 2. g, through it, the sides ofwhich recesses form supports for preventing the arm a from havinganylateral motion when the claw a is adjusted in any one of theserecesses. Four are used for the purpose o f adjusting the point` of theScythe toward or from the snath, and by inserting the claw into theproper hole in said plate the mower can give the desired pitch to hisscythe.' I iind'that it is'impossible by the use of the ordinary slidesto make as much variation'of the point of the scythe toward or from thesnath as is necessary in order to usel conveniently allrlengths andshapes of scythes without havingtheclaw bind in some positions and looseiu others. To avoid this diffiofthe plate E, which extendk deeper intothe wood than does the claw. By this arrangement I ani enabled to bringthe holes sufficientupon theface of this plate E. The sides of theseperforations against which the claw bears are' made converging towardthe loop D, for the purpose of adapting the holes to receive the clawfreely in whatever angle the arm a may be placed with respect to thelengthof the snatli. The loop D is made of sufficient length to admit ofa variation of the handle a plate E) apart, and thus the loop will clampthe arm a tirmly in whichever hole the claw may be set. By having ascrew at each end of the loop D either end may be setup so as to fastenthe arm firmly, whatever ina-y bei-ts position. This cannot be done by asingle screw, as the draft would then be equal on both ends of the loop,and it would be necessary to keep the arm in the center of the loop, orthe bearing would only be on one side thereof.

The leather wedge G, it will be seen, is much thinner on one side thanitis on the other. This wedge is inserted between the arm a and flatAsurface of the snath for the purpose of secured to the snath, asshownin Figs. l and This plate E is formed with four recesses,`

culty I have two spurs, h h, oil the under side ly near together toadmit of four'being made Y equal to the distance ofthe two claw-holes(inthrowing out the heel of the Scythe more or the arm a to one side orthe other ofthe clampless, according to circumstances, and also for thepurpose of raising the edge of the Scythe to a higher angle from theground whenin use than it otherwise would be, and also for the purposeof varying the point of the Scythe above or below a level with thespotting. The former object is accomplished by increasing or diminishingthe thickness of leather under the heel of the scythe, and the latterobject is effected by increasing or diminishing the thickness of leatherunder one side or the other of the arm a. These two adjustments are madeby means of the leather wedge G, shown clean ly in Fig. 6, which isbeveled laterally as well as longitudinally. The longitudinal slot il inthis wedge corresponds to a slot, 7.1which is formed in the surface cofthe snath for allowingthe Scythe to be removed 4from the snathwithoiit entirelyy det-aching the loop D, the groove@ receiving the clawas the Scythe is detached.

From the above `description it will be seen that my improved fasteningconsists of' a very few parts, and that the Scythe can be adjusted inany required position upon the snath, and then rigidly 'secured in placeby a very simple manipulation.` Y j y In adjusting the point of thescythe to or from the snath, by changing the claw te from one hole inplate E to anotherthe amount of movement can be nicely regulated byslipping ing-loop D.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. Theloop D, constructed with screw-tapped ends fitting into recessesformed in the snath, in combination with the two screw-fastenings d d,the whole constituting a. clump for securing the scythe to its snath,substantially as described.

2. The perforated claw-plate E, when constructed substantial] y as andfor the purposes described.

3. The construction ot' the ferrule 4(l with poses described. i

PINGKNEY FROST.

Witnesses:

HENRY BARNARD, FREDK. A. PORTER.

